IF THE Championship is such a good product as Martin Stonecliffe suggested last week, why does its ability to develop players missed by Premiership Academies depend on the restoration of the RFU’s £6m p.a. subsidy?The obvious answer is that rugby's status as a minority sport cannot possibly sustain, on a commercial basis, 24 full time professional clubs – unless dramatic, new market strategies can be found.One certain consequence of a – hopefully most unlikely – reinstatement of the subventions is that grassroots rugby would continue to be starved...
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